Fake appeals for help from Uganda

 

Dear Jürg

I have invested several thousand francs (!) in Uganda over the last 3 years. I supported a (supposedly) student (and her family) so that she could train to become a midwife. I also supported the training institution that she supposedly attended. I have since found out that I had been duped "by all means". Because of these negative experiences, I will not take part in your appeal for donations (No - I don't want to experience anything like that again!).
If you google it, you will find a lot of negative reports on the internet about “fake” appeals for help from Uganda. I will definitely stay away from it in the future. - In the future, I will only donate to charities that I can trust 100%. - The fact that there is a Swiss internet address for the aid organization in Uganda is by no means a guarantee for me that it is a serious cause (... that my donations really reach where I expect them.) - I found that with mine Researched several private individuals, aid organizations and church communities from Switzerland who, like me, fell victim to this shameful fraud. - I hope that it is clear to you and all my fellow readers that, like you, I am very much in favor of supporting development projects, but I will not be taking part in this specific project. (Sorry if I'm slowing down your "positive spirit" a bit ;-)

Cesi Canonica

 

Dear Cesi

Thank you very much for your detailed feedback...
...and we can totally understand your frustration :(
We are very aware that Uganda is (one of many) hot spots in the world.
Only, we didn't choose this place, we ended up there absolutely by chance.
And precisely because the suffering children are the least responsible for the fact that they live there, we have decided not to give up.
After six months of "war of formalities" *, we are now in such a position that we can go public with a clear conscience.
*) You can find our association statutes and the memorandum of understanding (collaboration agreement with partner organizations and authorities in Uganda) on our homepage.
We know our partners personally from the project, which has been running for over ten years, and have already met with them several times at the scene.
Out of conviction, we have already invested a lot of personal resources (of our rather modest ones) and even more time and passion in our project, which has since been recognized as a non-profit organization by the Swiss tax authorities.
In contrast to the large, widely recognized aid organizations, in our project all donations go exactly where they are needed.
In short: We know very well what we are doing - and we are absolutely aware of our responsibility towards our donors.
Just like our fellow campaigners, we also feel an obligation to the (orphan) children of Kigezi from the moment of our first encounter.
Nevertheless, thank you very much for the open description of your unfortunately negative experiences.
They give us strength and courage to prove that we can do better!

Best regards
Jürg König / Micha Bärtschi,
Co-President of the Amazima Association
(amazima = trust)

 

Thank you for your professional answer. I hope that it will prove to be correct in the future too.